Thill and pole holdback-lock.



F. W. OHIGKERING. THILL AND POLE HOLDBAGK LOOK.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB.12, 1912.

Patented Feb. 18, 1913.

/ Vca UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

FRANK W. CI-IICKERING, or HARDWICK, vnmvroivr, AssIGnon or ONE-HALF T0 EVERETT H. CAMPBELL, OF HARDWICK, VERMONT.

THILL AND POLE HOLPIBACK-LOOK.

Application filed February 12, 1912. Serial No. 677,016.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W. GHIOKER- ING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hardwick, in the county of Caledonia and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thill and Pole Holdback-Locks; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which is appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to carriages and wagons, and more especially to hold backs; and the object of the same is to produce an improved hold back which is adjustable and which has a lock whereby it may be set after it has been adjusted.

This object is accomplished by the details hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved device in the form which is employed when it is applied to shafts of light vehicles. Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively a bottom plan view and a cross section of another form of my improved device, the section being taken through the adjusting screw. Fig. 4: is a side elevation showing another form of my device as applied to the under side of a tongue or pole near its tip. Fig. 5 is a detail showing the two members as slightly separated.

In the drawings the letter T is used to designate a pole or tongue, or one of a pair of thills, and in either case it is a wooden member nearly round in cross section and flattened on its under side as shown at F; and the letter H is used broadly to indicate in dotted lines a hold back, the same being shown as a strap in Fig. 1 and as a ring in Fig. 4, the former of course connected to the breeching and the latter connected to the collars of a team of horses in a manner well known and needing no further illustration or description here.

My improved hold back and lock consists in a twopart metal guide secu'red to the flattened side of the wooden member, and a two-part slide movable thereover and adapted to'be set thereon, and its details of construction will now be described.

The guide is composed of a narrow metal strip 1 laid next the flat side of the wooden member, and a slightly wider metalstrip 2 laidnext-over the narrower strip and having along its center in itsv outer face a row of indentations 3,and a plurality of screws 4 passing through both strips and into the wooden member. The slide consists of a sheet-metal body 5 having its edges curled over as at 6 so as to embrace the edges of the wider member 2, a hook 7 carried by this body and formed in a variety of shapes according to the uses to which it is to be put, and a set screw 8 screwed through this body and having a rounded tip adapted to engage in any of-said indentations. The hold back strap or ring obviously engages the hook and usually passes around the wooden member T as indicated in dotted lines.

As clearly shown the plurality of indentations 3 are closely arranged to form a yielding plate or strip 2, whereby, the plate as constructed is capable of two functions, one for adjustably holding the hold-back, and the other for yieldingly strengthening the pole or tongue to which the same is attached.

By the formation of the plate 2 and the employment of the indentations 3, the said plate is thereby reduced in thickness throughout its entire length, for the purpose previously described.

This device is of special utility to those who, like livery men, have often to hitch up quickly and are called upon to fit the horse and his harness to any of a number of vehicles whose hold back irons may be diflerently disposed. Heretofore it was customary to adjust the strap so that the hold back itself would be lengthened or shortened; with my improvement it is only necessary to loosen the set screw, adjust the slide upon its guide, and reset the set screw so that the hold back hook is positioned to fit the length of the strap rather than otherwise. The parts may of course be of any material, size and detailed construction. The application of two metal strips, one of them entirely unbroken save for two screwholes, to the flattened side of a member originally round but perhaps planed off to make it fiat, gives the same additional strength which it would not otherwise have, and therefore the use of this device as a hold-back strengthens the tongue or thill rather than the contrary. Moreover it is out of sightand out of the way, and is readily applied to or removed from any wooden member where it is needed.

What is claimed as new is:

-A hold back device for vehicle poles comprising elongated upper and lower strips of metal contacting one with the other and both secured 'to the underside of the pole, the lower strip being wider than the upper stri and provided on opposite sides with bevele edges, a slide provided with inturned opposite side flanges to provide channeled grooves, the lower strip also having a longitudinal row of indentations therein, said FRANK W. OHICKERING.

Witnesses:

MELVIN G. MORSE, ESTHER F. Monsn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, I). G. v 

